500+ gallon Build

Here is the beginning of the equipment room... using my old 40 gallon sump for the skimmer and return pumps. Also using my old 120 gallon as a Frag Tank.... or something.... no sense having it sit in the garage!!

 

Well... I got my old 120 gallon stand, 120 tank, and 40 sump moved into the equipment room for a fit check... It's big in there, but it will work. One thing I realized.... the display tank... as I have drawn it, can't be moved in and out of my house without taking down a fence outside... the only door it will fit through is my back sliding glass door... thus, I'd have to temporarily take down the fence in the back yard to access my driveway and be able to move the tank... I am undaunted... but damn... that's a BIG tank...

Also... anyone have any ideas for a skimmer rated for 1200 gallons total water volume???

 

Well... I got my old 120 gallon stand, 120 tank, and 40 sump moved into the equipment room for a fit check... It's big in there, but it will work. One thing I realized.... the display tank... as I have drawn it, can't be moved in and out of my house without taking down a fence outside... the only door it will fit through is my back sliding glass door... thus, I'd have to temporarily take down the fence in the back yard to access my driveway and be able to move the tank... I am undaunted... but damn... that's a BIG tank...

Also... anyone have any ideas for a skimmer rated for 1200 gallons total water volume??? Only one I have seen so far rated for that much is the AquaC 2000

 

RO 9000 ext. Maybe the 8000?

 

What do you use on your's ReefBruh??

 

SO here's a thought.... Wouldn't a skimmer be more related to the bioload of the tank than the tank size itself?

If a super large tank had a small skimmer... that should work fine.... if the bio-load in the tank was large... Similarly, a small tank with a massive bio-load would need a heavy duty skimmer.

I question how much through put is needed on a skimmer versus the tank size... Total Water volume compared to Volume of water through the skimmer per day... is there some magic to that? My other question is why is the AquaC Skimmer three times less expensive than the ReefOcto??? When they are both rated for huge systems??? Anyone have any experience with AquaC skimmers??

 

I use the older version of the RO 8000. It's a Cat 3 Hurricone protein skimmer.

 

The rule is 1 1/2 times the tank volume. That's not written in stone but has been suggested.

 

Question for the Community...

I decided to go with a sump room... the sump room is directly behind the display tank wall.

Typically, I have arranged my tank in the past such that all the overflow from the display drains into the refugium... all of that flow drains into the skimmer compartment and then finally all of that flow drains into the return pump section to complete the flow.

What I did not like about that set up was having to crawl down low to clean the refugium and skimmer sections.

Thus, this time I am considering the following....

1) Display tank draining into a return pump aquarium (40 gallons) through filter socks (with ATO feed)
2) Having the return pump feed a manifold with multiple outlets... each outlet with a ball valve to control flow.

a) Left Display Tank Supply line
b) Right Display Tank Supply Line
c) Cooler, the cooler water will return into the return pump tank
d) GFO/Carbon Reactor will return into the Skimmer tank
e) Spare​

3) GFO/Carbon water drains into the skimmer tank... skimmer tank drains into the refugium.... refugium drains back into the return pump tank.

Fundamentally two things change here...
1) The order of filtration... WAS: Filter Socks, Refugium, Skimmer, Return... IS: Filter Socks, Skimmer, Refugium, Return... Does the change in order matter????
2) Volume of water per cycle... in the old flow 100% of return pump water went through the refugium and skimmer sections... Now, only 25% of the flow does on each cycle.... Does that matter???

My logic says that as long as the pump flow rate is high enough... it should not matter... but I want to hear some opinions....

This solves my previous problem in that the Skimmer and Refugium Tanks are now on the Counter Top above my return pump so that they are easily accessible. Just use the Return Pump to create flow to them...

Thoughts please???

Thanks
Mark

 

Second is better. You want a slow flow in the refugium. If you haven't already I'd tee off one return to go in the refugium and the rest through the sump.